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China Will Launch Its 1st Moon Rover, 'Jade Rabbit,' On Sunday

 China is counting down to the launch of its first moon landing mission, a mission poised to blast off Sunday (Dec. 1) to send the country's first lunar lander and rover to Earth's nearest neighbor.

China's first moon rover is called Yutu, which means "Jade Rabbit" in Chinese, according to state media reports. It will launch with the Chang'e 3 moon lander on Sunday 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT), though it will be 1:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 2 at China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

If all goes well, the Chang'e 3 mission will land on the moon on Dec. 14, according the European Space Agency, which is providing mission tracking of the lander and rover for China's space agency. [See Photos of China's Yutu Moon Rover and Chang'e 3 Lander]

China's first moon rover and lander

China's Yutu rover is a six-wheel robot that weighs nearly 310 lbs (140 kilograms) and is equipped with two solar panels for power. A global online poll was used to come up with suggested names for the robot. In the final round of voting, about 650,000 people out of more than 3.4 million chose Yutu.

"Yutu is a symbol of kindness, purity and agility, and is identical to the moon rover in both outlook and connotation. Yutu also reflects China's peaceful use of space," said Li Benzheng, deputy commander-in-chief of China's lunar program. Li announced the name at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday (Nov. 26).

Yutu is a pet rabbit that travels with the goddess Chang’e to the moon in Chinese legends. China has named each of its three moon missions so far after Chang'e.

If all goes well, the Chang'e 3 mission will mark the first time a Chinese spacecraft has soft-landed on the surface of an extraterrestrial body. The spacecraft's landing, if successful, would also mark the first soft lunar landing since the former Soviet Union's Luna 24 sample return mission in 1976.

A new moon exploration phase

China's Yutu rover onboard the Chang'e 3 lunar lander is scheduled to land on the moon in mid-December. Once deployed, the robot can explore the surface for three months, according to mission descriptions.

The moon robot reflects a shift into the second phase of China's lunar exploration program, a step-by-step agenda that entails orbiting and landing probes, followed by the return to Earth of lunar samples.

China's Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 moon orbiter missions launched in 2007 and 2010, respectively. The country expects to have a robotic spacecraft return lunar samples to Earth by 2020.

As the countdown draws closer for liftoff of Chang'e 3 atop a Long March 3B rocket— reportedly modified with new technologies and improved reliability — there is caution being added by Chinese space officials: the voyage to the moon is risky business.

"More than 80 percent of the technology adopted in the mission is new, and with new technology and products carrying out new tasks, there are certainly great risks," said Li, as reported in China Daily. "It could be a trying process for the rover to move down the lander," he said.

Li said that to ensure the success of this mission, tracking and control networks have been set up in areas including China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and northeastern Heilongjiang province. Their capabilities, he said, are close to the current world standard.